Bringing a Dog From Colombia to the US: CDC High-Risk Rules, Screwworm and the ICA Exit Certificate

Bringing a dog from Colombia to the United States takes more planning than most owners expect, and much of what you will read online is out of date. Colombia is on the CDC list of high-risk countries for dog rabies, so a dog vaccinated in Colombia needs a rabies titer, a government-endorsed form and a landing at one of a small set of US airports. Colombia is also in the region where New World screwworm is endemic, which adds a USDA certificate with a five-day window. And on the Colombian side, every pet leaving the country needs an exit certificate from ICA, the national agricultural authority, issued at the airport.

The old CDC dog import permit, with its photos of the dog's teeth, which still appears in top search results, was replaced by the current system on August 1, 2024. This guide explains the rules as they stand now, the Colombia-specific complications, and a timeline that works. It is part of our inbound-to-the-US series alongside the Europe to the US hub.

Why Colombia means the high-risk path

CDC sorts dogs by every country they have been in during the six months before arrival. Colombia appears on the CDC list of high-risk countries for dog rabies, so any dog that has been in Colombia in that period follows the high-risk rules, even if it was only visiting. An unvaccinated dog from a high-risk country cannot enter the US at all.

Every dog, whatever path it is on, must be at least six months old, carry a microchip implanted before its rabies vaccine, appear healthy, and travel with a CDC Dog Import Form receipt. From there, the requirements split by where the rabies vaccine was given.

Path 1: a US-vaccinated dog coming home

If you took your dog from the US to Medellin, Bogota or Cartagena and are now returning, the easier path may be open to you. You need the Certification of U.S.-Issued Rabies Vaccination, completed by a USDA-accredited vet and endorsed by USDA before the dog left the US, or a USDA-endorsed export health certificate issued no later than July 31, 2025 that shows the dog's age, microchip number and valid rabies vaccination. Dogs on this path can arrive at any port that matches the CDC receipt and need no titer and no care facility booking.

The catch is that the form must exist before departure. Many digital nomads and retirees moved to Colombia without it. If that is you, your dog is on Path 2. Watch the expiry date of the US vaccine on the form too: a booster given in Colombia counts as a foreign vaccination. Our guide to moving back to the US with a pet covers the wider return.

If you split your year between Colombia and the US, the endorsed US vaccination form is worth getting right once, because CDC lets you use it for repeat returns as long as the rabies vaccine recorded on it is still valid. Owners who travel back and forth without it end up redoing the high-risk paperwork, and paying for a care facility exam, on every trip north. Ask a USDA-accredited vet about it during your next visit to the US, before you fly back to Colombia.

Path 2: a dog vaccinated in Colombia

Dogs adopted or born in Colombia, and returning dogs without the US form, follow the CDC rules for foreign-vaccinated dogs from high-risk countries:

• The Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip form, completed by your vet and endorsed by an official government veterinarian in Colombia. It is valid for 30 days after signing.
• A passing rabies titer from a CDC-approved laboratory, drawn at least 30 days after the first valid vaccine and at least 28 days before entry. A passing result stays valid for life if vaccination never lapses.
• Arrival by air at an airport with a CDC-registered Animal Care Facility, with a reservation made before the dog flies.
• All documents in English, or with a certified translation.

A dog that arrives without a valid titer is revaccinated and held for a 28-day quarantine at the facility, at the owner's cost, which must be reserved in advance.

The Colombia complication: no approved titer lab at home

Here Colombia differs from countries such as China, Mexico or Brazil. CDC's list of approved rabies serology laboratories includes labs in dozens of countries, but none in Colombia. The blood sample has to be shipped to an approved lab abroad, commonly in the US or another country on the list, and the result must come directly from that lab, not routed through an intermediary. Ask your Colombian vet early which approved lab they send to, how the serum is shipped and how long results take, because international shipping of the sample adds days or weeks to a timeline that is already tight. For background on the test itself, see our guide to the rabies titer test for pets.

The screwworm certificate, signed by a government vet

New World screwworm, a fly whose larvae infest wounds in living animals, is endemic across most of South America, including Colombia, according to the IAEA's overview of screwworm in the Americas. The USDA rules on bringing a pet dog into the United States say a dog from a screwworm region must travel with a certificate stating it was inspected within five days before shipment and found free of screwworm, or treated and freed of it before leaving.

For most countries, including Colombia, that certificate must be signed by a full-time salaried government veterinarian. The Mexico exception that lets authorized private vets sign does not apply. There is no fixed template, so it can be a separate letter or wording added to the government health certificate. Ask ICA, or your agent, to include it with the exit paperwork, because the five-day window lines up naturally with the airport inspection.

Leaving Colombia: the ICA exit certificate

Every dog or cat leaving Colombia needs a Certificado de Inspeccion Sanitaria, known as the CIS. ICA issues it only at its offices in international airports, seaports and border crossings, and ICA's page on taking dogs and cats out of Colombia sets out the process. Since 2022 the request has to be made online through ICA's SISPAP platform, usually together with your vet. You then present the pet and a recent health certificate from a practicing Colombian veterinarian at the airport ICA office before the flight, and pay the ICA fee through the approved electronic channels, not in cash.

The windows are short. ICA requires the vet health certificate to be dated only a few days before boarding and the CIS itself is valid for 72 hours, so the vet visit, the screwworm inspection, the ICA appointment and the flight all have to sit inside about the same week. Check the exact current window on ICA's page when you book, because ICA has changed it more than once.

Why so much Colombia advice online is wrong

Between 2021 and mid-2024, dogs from high-risk countries like Colombia could only enter the US under a temporary CDC system that required an advance import permit, photos of the dog's teeth to show age, and owner passport photos. Expat blogs and forum threads written in that period still rank well, and they describe that permit as if it were current. It is not. Since August 1, 2024 the permit has been replaced by the CDC Dog Import Form, the endorsed vaccination forms and the care facility system described in this guide. If someone offers to file a CDC dog import permit for you for a fee, treat that as a warning sign rather than a service; our guide on how to avoid pet transport scams covers the patterns to watch for.

Mistakes that ground dogs on this route

• Vaccinating before chipping. CDC treats that vaccine as invalid, and the 30-day and 28-day clocks restart after a new shot.
• Underestimating sample shipping. Because the titer has to go to a lab outside Colombia, a sample that is held up in transit can push the whole move back by weeks.
• Booking the wrong US city. A dog on the high-risk path cannot land in Houston or Orlando, however convenient the flight.
• Missing the screwworm wording. A health certificate without a government vet's screwworm statement dated within five days can mean refusal at the US border.
• Letting the windows drift apart. The CDC foreign vaccination form lasts 30 days, the CIS lasts 72 hours and the screwworm inspection must be within five days. A flight delay can break more than one at once.

Which US airports a Colombian dog can land at

Path 2 dogs must land where CDC has registered an Animal Care Facility. At the time of writing those were Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York JFK, Philadelphia, Seattle (cargo arrivals only) and Washington Dulles. For Colombia, Miami is the obvious gateway, with frequent flights from Bogota, Medellin and Cartagena, and Atlanta and New York JFK also receive flights from Colombia. Houston and Orlando, both popular with Colombian travellers, are not on the list. Book the facility reservation as soon as you book the flight; space is limited and the reservation must be confirmed before the dog boards.

Flights and airline rules

Small dogs and cats can often fly in the cabin on Colombia to US routes, while larger dogs travel as checked baggage or cargo, subject to crate, breed and heat rules. Several carriers restrict snub-nosed breeds and impose summer embargoes on animals in the hold. Confirm that the airline accepts the pet on your specific flight and that it lands at a care facility airport. If you are weighing options for a larger dog, our comparison of pet cargo versus in-cabin travel covers the trade-offs.

Adopting a Colombian street dog or rescue

Many visitors fall for a street dog in Colombia and want to bring it home. It can be done, but the timeline is real: a dog with no history needs a microchip, then a rabies vaccine, then a 30-day wait, then a titer shipped abroad, then at least 28 days before flying, which is roughly two to three months at minimum, plus the dog must be six months old. If a rescue is importing the dog to rehome it for a fee, USDA's commercial dog import rules add an import permit and core vaccines on top. Our guide to bringing a rescue dog from overseas covers vetting the rescue and the transport.

Cats from Colombia

Cats skip the CDC side entirely: no titer, no import form, no care facility airport. They must appear healthy on arrival, and airlines or states may ask for a health certificate and rabies vaccination. The ICA exit certificate still applies to cats, so the Colombian side of the process is the same.

What it typically costs

These are planning ranges in US dollars, drawn from the published figures in our international pet shipping cost breakdown, not quotes. Government and facility fees are set by ICA and by each facility.

A timeline that works for a Colombia-vaccinated dog

1. Three months or more out: confirm the microchip went in before the rabies vaccine. If not, re-vaccinate.
2. At least 30 days after the valid vaccine: draw blood and ship it to a CDC-approved lab.
3. Once the titer passes: book a flight into a care facility airport no sooner than 28 days after the draw, and reserve the facility.
4. Two to three weeks out: complete the CDC Dog Import Form and start the ICA SISPAP request.
5. Final week: vet health certificate, screwworm inspection and government endorsement of the CDC foreign vaccination form, then the ICA CIS at the airport within its 72-hour validity.

Frequently asked questions